John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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The piece in The Evening Standard suggests that it might have been something quite different. It reports a family member having said the victim had called to say he was being followed by someone. According to the news piece, it might have been a hit.
Firstly, deepest condolences and sympathies to the victim and his family. Tragic and entirely unnecessary waste of life.
As far as I understand from nursery staff, it happened right outside my child's nursery and by the now unfortunately topically named Bicycle Mews (near the leisure centre - Clapham High Street end).
Its a part of the road where the narrow single-lane between the parked cars on both sides opens out quite a bit as it goes past the leisure centre.
Not all that many significant speed bumps around there (have a look at google maps street view).
In my experience over the last few years of regularly going to Clapham Manor Street, the vast majority of cars drive pretty slowly and carefully along there because there is so little space. Sadly, it only takes one person not being careful...
As OldRidgeback points out, there are a lot of CCTV cameras around Clapham. Given the accuracy of knowledge of when it happened, you would hope that the recordings from all the CCTV feeds in the area could be examined to identify all the black beemers in the vicinty at the time...
Hoping that they track down the responsible party and that approprate action is taken. But ultimately nothing can be done to remove the damage that has been done.
Very sad indeed.
Difficult not to stereotype reading this sad story, unfortunately not enough is done by the government to promote safety. Bring back those adverts that plagued our TV screens in the 70s....Think Bike (ok it was aimed a motor cyclists but it could apply to non motor powered bikes)......condolences to this poor soles family
Very sad news.
I've only recently started cycling to work (6 months or so), and in that short time I have noticed that a wildly disproportionate number of BMW drivers are incredibly reckless and dangerous on the road. Not one for stereotypes etc., but it really is noticeable in my opinion.
There seem a lot of reports of the car's location. I wonder what it was doing to attract so much attention?
Live round the corner and cycle up it all the time. It has some of the biggest and most frequent sleeping policemen in London, so I don't know how anyone could top 25 mph along there?
Biggest problem is cars parking right up to the junctions along it.
I live nearby too and I know that road well as it used to be part of my daily commute to north London. Yep, the speed bumps will beat the crap out of your car's suspension if you drive at more than 20mph, but people still do. There is CCTV on Clapham Road and hopefully someone will be able to get the registration number of the suspect vehicle using enhancement software.
[[[[[ Come to think of it; you could drive at just 10mph and delete a cyclist, in a narrow street clogged with parked cars, provided you're a "careless" or "dangerous" driver. I'm not commenting on the above incident, just generalising.
P.R.
No, wait a min....isn't "careless driving" dangerous driving, given the enormous lump you're supposed to be controlling?
P.R.
Clapham Manor Street is narrow with cars parked on either side and vehicle speeds should be low. Anyone driving at more than 20mph along it is a fool.
fool = potential murderer
Very sad news, my sympathy goes out to the family.
Black BMW. Tinted windows. South of the river... Likely drug dealer / gang member... Car won't have been insured, likely now a burnt shell and untraceable.
We could really do with some more police patrol cars, running plates as a matter of course.
Very sad indeed. I go through there regularly and have called in nobber driving to the met before as there is plenty of it around. I suspect I would have been better off calling the samaritans as at least they would have listened.
The sad reality is that a young life has been taken because dangerous driving is not taken seriously. Way past time for change.
"Death by careless, 1 year suspended, 2 year ban. Client has shown remorse and is of previous good character."
What odds can I have?
BMW... tinted windows... every time I see a car like that, they're speeding.
There should be a 500% arsehole tax on those kind of cars.
Without indulging in too much stereotyping (I drive a black BMW btw...) such cars are frequently found to be uninsured...